Scoring methodology and criteria for palm oil companies
Methodology:
Only public sources have been used for the research carried out. This largely consists of information from the company themselves. In some instances third party information such as third party assessments of policies have also been used to aid the scoring against the criteria if they are publicly available. In some cases information that is only accessible through password protected areas of company websites has also been used if access to these areas has been provided without discrimination (for instance access to sustainability dashboards might require registration).
For criterion 3.A, which looks at activities by companies that do not match the basic forest protection indicators and key indicators on human rights, public third party information including from NGOs has also been used.
Assessments were carried out in August 2016.
Scoring:
A total of 100 points were available for each company to score. Companies indicated in green scored more than 66.6 points, companies with a score between 33.3 and 66.6 are highlighted in orange and companies with a score of less than 33.3 points are listed as red.
Scoring criteria:
Policy
1.A / The company has a forest policy for palm oil produced, traded or processed that applies to its global operations including all subsidiaries and joint ventures. The company also requires its suppliers to follow the policy. / 8 / Half points if the policy is not extended to the suppliers. No points are given if the policy does not apply to all subsidiaries and geographic location of the company.
1.B / The policy excludes the sourcing of raw materials or products originating from natural forests including both primary and secondary forests / 7
1.C / The policy specifically excludes the sourcing of raw materials or products originating from High conservation Value (HCV) areas / 6
1.D / The palm oil policy specifically excludes development on peat soil regardless of depth. / 6
1.E / The palm oil policy excludes the sourcing of raw materials and products from developments in High Carbon Stock (HCS) Forests / 6
1.F / The palm oil policy excludes the sourcing of raw materials and products from lands where burning has been used to clear vegetation. / 6
1.G / The company has pledged to use (or uses) a third party for compliance verification of its policy / 5 / Half points are given if not details are provided about the third party.
1.H / The company has developed and published a non-compliance procedure that outlines thresholds for the suspension and/or cancellation of contracts with suppliers in breach of the policy. / 5 / Half points are given if the company says there is a procedure but fails to publish details.
1.I / The company has committed to developing a traceability system that documents palm oil back to the plantation of origin within its entire supply chain. / 6 / Half points point are awarded if the company is committed to only trace its palm oil to the mill level. Or do not include third party mills
1.J / The company specifically commits (and requires its suppliers to do so) to respect the rights of Indigenous and local communities to give or withhold their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) to development on their lands. / 5
1.K / The company has programs that support small holders in its supply chain with support that goes beyond purely financial considerations and the palm oil supply chain but addresses longer term development / 5
1.L / The company has policy to reduce the environmental and health impacts of chemical pesticides and/or fertilizers. / 5
Implementation & Transparency
2.A / Date by which the company aims to achieve full traceability to plantation for its entire supply chain. / 6 / Full points are given if this date is by 2018. Half points are given if the date is 2019 or 2020. No points are given if the date is after 2020, no date is given or if the company does not commit to full traceability to plantations including for its third party suppliers.
2.B / The company or the relevant third party publishes detailed processes and results of the policy verification assessments. / 6
2.C / The company has established and published an accessible and transparent grievance and dispute resolution mechanism. / 6 / Half points are awarded if the process is not easily accessible (for example through an email or phone number). No points are awarded if the company claims to have a process but does not provide details of the process.
2.D / The company reports on its progress towards meeting its policy goals at least annually against measureable indicators. / 6 / Full points are given if the company has an explicit commitment to reporting on at least an annual basis and has published at least one implementation report and/or third-party audit results in the past twelve months.
2.E / The company has published the names or detailed locations (that allow for coordinates to be obtained) of all palm oil mills in its supply chain / 6 / Half points are given if this is not yet done for all mills.
Point deductions
3.A / Points are deducted for the following (occurring since January 1, 2015). There is public evidence that since January 1, 2015 the company has in its own operations not met criteria 1.C, 1.D, 1.E or 1.J (or uses palm oil from protected areas). Or the company has sourced from suppliers that have not met these criteria. Or the company had its RSPO license revoked or suspended since that date. Or there is evidence of significant workers rights violations or social conflicts / 10 / Full deduction if the violations are in the company’s own operations or if the RSPO certificate was suspended or terminated. Half points are deducted if the issues arose by known suppliers to the company. Half point deduction also occurs if there is recent evidence of companies not following FPIC or having workers rights violations or significant social conflicts.